What are careers in business development?

Business development representative, business development manager, and head of business development are careers in business development.

• Business Development Representative

A business development representative (BDR) is the most entry-level position and where most people will start in the industry.

A BDR is responsible for generating new business opportunities by qualifying leads and prospecting through existing business accounts to engage with potential buyers. They create leads through cold emailing, cold calling, and social selling. In most cases, they are the initial point of contact for a potential customer.

The ultimate goal for a BDR is to book appointments that eventually become legitimate sales opportunities. Once the meeting is booked, the client is handed off to an account executive or someone in a similar role. It is important to remember that a BDR is not the one responsible for closing a sale.

In most settings, the success of a BDR is measured by the number of appointments they can book for an account executive. They will typically have weekly, quarterly, and annual quotas that they are expected to meet. These quotas will include things like appointments booked, emails sent, and the number of calls made.

• Business Development Manager

A similar career option in business development is that of a business development manager (BDM). These are key members of the go-to-market team. They are responsible for building lists of sales leads and then pitching these to potential prospects to build the company's client list.

They use many different business skills, including strategic planning, project management, and successful negotiations to move their clients from potential customers to signed clients. Their typical daily tasks will include:

• Identifying opportunities in target markets for your organization's products and services

• Generating leads through cold calling prospective clients or networking at trade shows

• Developing and nurturing relationships with key customer accounts

• Keeping up with the latest industry developments, including market positioning of corporate competitors

• Assessing client needs and the company's ability to meet those needs

• Following up with new leads and referrals generated from the sales team

• Preparing status reports on goals

• Using customer relationship management (CRM) software, such as Salesforce, to manage interactions

• Head of Business Development

Similar to a BDM, another career option is to be head of business development. This role is responsible for monitoring the company's overall business operations and client transactions. They coordinate with clients for their requirements and specifications and develop a team to handle the project management operations.

They will also oversee client-relationship management and sales. The main duties of this role are:

• Gather the right team to reach business goals

• Identify trends and client needs to develop new business opportunities

• Assist customers and third-party partnerships with new opportunities

• Prepare business plans and present necessary budgets to management or clients

• Organize training plans to address these gaps within the organization

• Both in-house or between management and clients during the execution stages

• Include job fairs, trade shows, and industry associations

• Keep sales strategies, business plans, and PR strategies working effectively